New MRLs for tree nuts

In April, Gabriele Ludwig, ABC, attended the 42nd Codex Committee for Pesticide Residues (CCPR) as a delegate of the International Nut and Dried Fruit Foundation. CCPR recommends pesticide maximum residue levels (MRLs) on food to the Codex Alimentarius Commission, an international organization that establishes standards for food moving in international trade. Codex MRLs are important in export markets that do not establish their own MRLs.

The CCPR recommended the establishment of MRLs for almonds/treenuts for buprofezin, hexythiazox (Onager), fenbuconazole (Indar), and spirodiclofen (Envidor).

Users of hydrogen phosphide (phosphine, aluminum phosphide, etc.) should notify their suppliers that it is scheduled for re-evaluation by CCPR in 2014. At this time, no registrant has been identified that will provide the necessary data for re-evaluation, which means that existing codex MRLs for phosphine could be lost.

ABC has been working with registrants to ensure that data for almonds/treenuts are included in data packages to establish almond MRLs globally, as well as to encourage support for the nomination of new chemicals into the Codex system. One such example is propylene oxide (PPO), which will be reviewed in 2011.